Former Ohio State player pleads to drug charges

Published: February 25, 2014 7:25 AM

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A former Ohio State University football player previously caught up in the school's memorabilia scandal faces a four-year prison term after pleading guilty to drug trafficking.

Ray Small is to be sentenced April 3 after pleading guilty Monday in Columbus to three felony counts of drug trafficking. He also faces drug trafficking charges in Meigs County in southeastern Ohio.

The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/MqRoiV ) reports that the 26-year-old Small was indicted in July, three months after Columbus police found heroin and prescription pain and anti-anxiety pills during a search of his apartment.

Small, a wide receiver at OSU from 2006 to 2009, was one of several players involved in a high-profile football memorabilia scandal that led to the forced resignation of coach Jim Tressel.